squali Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I picked this article for my Jstor shelf. It's only a page and a half long. The Author describes using a household pressure cooker to break down matrix in the pursuit of microfossils. The matrix is placed in a beaker and covered with water. One inch of water is placed in the pressure cooker. When steam flows freely the valve is shut and break down begins. "Cooking" times and or cycles vary with matrix type 2 It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I picked this article for my Jstor shelf. It's only a page and a half long. The Author describes using a household pressure cooker to break down matrix in the pursuit of microfossils. The matrix is placed in a beaker and covered with water. One inch of water is placed in the pressure cooker. When steam flows freely the valve is shut and break down begins. "Cooking" times and or cycles vary with matrix type Wow, I would have never thought of this method. I might try this but without the beaker. The beaker is probably to keep the matrix contained but I would worry about the beaker surviving the cooking. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 There is also a way of doing this with liquid nitrogen (as if I could get any) http://www.paleo.pan.pl/people/Dubicka/Publications/Remin_et_al_2012.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 There is also a way of doing this with liquid nitrogen (as if I could get any) http://www.paleo.pan.pl/people/Dubicka/Publications/Remin_et_al_2012.pdf Buy it here. But not cheap. What might be accomplished with dry ice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 I believe the liquid N quick freezes the matrix providing a rapid contraction while any water molecules will expand on freezing. This method can lead To not such great results without a lab environment It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acryzona Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 That's a great idea! The increased pressure will drive the liquid into the micro cracks and pores of the rock helping to split the rock. I wonder if a pressure cooker could be used in the kerosene / water method which works on hard shales. I may need to buy two as I doubt my wife will let me cook a roast in the pressure cooker afterwards! Maybe if I named the dish Givetian pot roast.... Collecting Microfossils - a hobby concerning much about many of the little paraphrased from Dr. Robert Kesling's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 ...I wonder if a pressure cooker could be used in the kerosene / water method which works on hard shales... This sounds particularly dangerous! 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 This sounds particularly dangerous! This is just SWAG, but I think you are risking a huge still explosion. The boiling point of kerosene is between 150 and 300 centigrade. So all of the water will boil off leaving the kerosene. The flash point of kerosene is between 37 and 65 °C (100 and 150 °F). Kaboom!!! Big bomb with lots of shrapnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Good point guys. The super heated steam/water in a pressure cooker is about 250 ^F at 15psi, if you are at sea level. Water Only Please It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Also you need to remember what you may have already treated your shale with. I have a good amount where the different treatments didn't work. I can at least smell the kerosene on some of my shale but other shale I used different chemicals and I don't quite remember what I used. I would only try this with fresh, new shale. I also have a question. Shale can trap natural gas and oil. From what I understand about fracking, chemicals, heat and pressure are used to fracture the shale and to release the natural gas and oil. Can a pressure cooker cause a fracking effect on shale which might be dangerous? I love to break down matrix but sometimes worry that what I am doing may not be too smart. Marco Sr. 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Be careful with this ; the goal is to recover microfossils, not turn a tank upside-down! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Marcellus shale is the formation that is being drilled at this time. The shale located near the surface has already been mostly Frackatized by nature. Methane is odorless but there is always a chance of some other hydrocarbons being present. The best thing I can recommend, which I should of done in the 1st post, would be to go to JSTOR, and sign up to check out 3 articles for a period of 2 weeks. FREE. You can't copy the articles or I would post it here. I learned about this great opportunity from TFF member Xonenine in a different post. I am only up to the year 1965 in the Journal of Paleontology, just reading the table of contents so far Interestingly, a lot of the papers are dedicated to the study of foraminifera in an effort to catalog index fossils for oil exploration. http://about.jstor.org/rr Edited February 13, 2014 by squali 1 It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acryzona Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Mike, Auspex, Marco and Squali: Thanks for thinking it through the idea a lot better than I did. I retract my idea as it is too dangerous. Don't want to win the Darwin award! FYI: Some universities offer free access to JSTOR for being an alumni. Collecting Microfossils - a hobby concerning much about many of the little paraphrased from Dr. Robert Kesling's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Also you need to remember what you may have already treated your shale with. I have a good amount where the different treatments didn't work. I can at least smell the kerosene on some of my shale but other shale I used different chemicals and I don't quite remember what I used. I would only try this with fresh, new shale. I also have a question. Shale can trap natural gas and oil. From what I understand about fracking, chemicals, heat and pressure are used to fracture the shale and to release the natural gas and oil. Can a pressure cooker cause a fracking effect on shale which might be dangerous? I love to break down matrix but sometimes worry that what I am doing may not be too smart. Marco Sr. I think any shale found on the surface would have off-gassed any natural gas. Shale has a relatively high porosity (8-29%, but generally under 15%), and a very low permeability. So while it can hold a fair bit of oil and gas, that oil and gas was not easily extracted until the advent of horizontal drilling and fracking. So let's assume a porosity of 15%--15 grams or about a tablespoon. I'm sure there are many pressure cooker recipes contain more than that in oil, butter or meat fat. All of those things are flammable, but not really explosive. I don't see a safety issue. There might be a light sheen of oil on the water after using a pressure cooker to break down shale, but that would be about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 A more pertinent danger might be storage of consolidated matrix. I've been to coal mines in east Texas where the coal spontaneously combusts and smolders just beneath the surface. Theoretically a matrix high in hydrocarbons might spontaneously combust just like a bucket of oily rags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 This is just SWAG, but I think you are risking a huge still explosion. The boiling point of kerosene is between 150 and 300 centigrade. So all of the water will boil off leaving the kerosene. The flash point of kerosene is between 37 and 65 °C (100 and 150 °F). Kaboom!!! Big bomb with lots of shrapnel. but it sure would break down the matrix. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I would think TSP would be safe to use in the P=cooker, and help break down the matrix. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now